In Brief: E-Trade Gains $108M Of Deposits in a Day

E-Trade Group Inc. announced Monday that it gathered $108 million in new customer deposits on a single day last week, a record for the on-line broker.

E-Trade had been averaging $60 million a day in such deposits this month, up 200% from the average daily amount taken during the fourth quarter of 1998. The firm, which introduced internet trading in 1996, holds $15.2 billion of customer assets.

"January is a typically a strong month for mutual fund inflows, so it is not too surprising," said Stephen C. Franco, an analyst at Piper Jaffray Inc. in Minneapolis. "But 200% over last quarter is a big, big jump."

Banks should view the announcement as another example of nonbank financial service companies "stealing assets away from banks," he said. "There is an opportunity here that not many banks are being very aggressive about."